The World: Sharm el Sheikh: A Nice Place to Live

Located at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula and commanding the passage to
the Gulf of Aqaba, Sharm el Sheikh is sand-blown, sunbaked and heavy
with symbolism and strategic significance. It played a major part in
the events leading to the Six-Day War. At that time, Gamal Abdel Nasser
threatened that Egyptian artillery at Sharm el Sheikh would sink any
ship that ventured into the narrow Straits of Tiran en route to the
Israeli port of Eilat, 130 miles to the north, which handles all of
Israel's oil imports. Soon afterward, Israeli paratroopers and
amphibious forces captured the fortifications. In the...